Millions are misinformed about manufactured housing. The obvious answer is education.

Millions don’t know, so they don’t understand just how failed many public policies have been. Millions don’t understand how public policy impacts business and jobs, including those in our industry.

The obvious answer is education.

Hundreds of billions of dollars are pouring back into America. It is the result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, combined with regulatory rollbacks.

Those business thwarting, job killing forces of higher taxes and regulations have been tolerated for decades. Presidents John F. “Jack” Kennedy (D) and Ronald Reagan (R) demonstrated the principle that taxes could be dramatically lowered, and business and jobs would be spurred.

That isn’t partisan. Rather, it’s a law, like gravity.

Or as industry success story Marty Lavin succinctly put it in his article on trade, “You get more of what you encourage, and less of what you discourage.”

The point? Once more, education is the key. A new generation of manufactured housing industry professionals and Americans must be taught what works, and why.

Lessons from Seattle’s Head Tax

Higher taxes or higher regulations are business and job killers. These are truths that the Daily Business News has promoted for years, and are being proven – right before the nation’s and our industry’s eyes.

Recently, giant Amazon pushed back hard on Seattle’s head tax, which was passed to pay for homeless programs. Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest man and founder of Seattle based Amazon, did not want to pay that tax, even though he can clearly afford it. Yet, Bezos favors progressive policies? How does contradiction work in practice?

Warren Buffett and Chase’s Jaime Dimon recently praised on CNBC the U.S. economic boom as strong. But both are Democratic supporters. Buffett has pointedly put down President Trump for years before he ran for the White House. Buffett strongly supported Mr. Trump’s opponent, Secretary Hillary Clinton. How does that contradiction work?

Make no mistake. The evidence is there that billionaires like Buffet, Bezos, Dimon, Soros or others who support so-called progressive or leftist causes know the truth about high taxes and heavy regulations. It isn’t that Marty Lavin, Tim Connor, or Tony Kovach are smarter or richer than they are.

Some modest level of taxes and regulations are arguably necessary in society. But excessive taxes and regulations are proven by experience to be destructive. That’s been known for centuries. So, why do some favor high taxes and high regulations? In a phrase, it’s “political and economic power over their competition.” Big business can better sustain high taxes and high regulations.

The Approaching Midterms

Democratic strategists like long-time Clinton adviser Doug Schoen have said that opposition to President Trump can’t be a winning strategy for them. The evidence of the success of the president’s policies are increasingly strong.

Keep in mind the lessons of the facts above. This isn’t about a cult of personality, or party, as some narratives would have you believe.

Rather, it’s about policy principles that are as proven as gravity. Rephrased, its about education about reality vs. flawed opinions.

Presidents Then…

Yesterday, the Daily Business News spotlighted then President Gerald Ford’s speech praising what was then the mobile home industry. The mobile home industry has evolved into the modern manufactured home (MH) industry. There were some principles that were practiced during the Nixon-Ford era, such as wage price controls, that were proven to be public policy failures. The point isn’t that President Ford was great because he was Republican (note: as pro-industry trade publishers, we are political independents). It isn’t that President Ford was just being nice to our industry.

Rather, it is that President Ford was correct then on some specifically focused items that apply today to manufactured homes. Those specific principles are as true today as they were back then. If you missed it, please circle back to the article linked below once you finish this column. Because the lessons are true, then and now.

“We will never give in. We will never give up. And we will never, ever stop fighting for our country,” said President Donald J. Trump near the end of his rally last night. “Or for our flag. Or for our freedom,” he said to cheers and applause. Like President Reagan, our 45th president holds different views than he once did on some issues. He evolved over time from some beliefs into America First economic nationalism.

It should be noted that President Trump’s call for “a space force” is in some ways an echo of Reagan’s call for the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), which was mocked then. SDI was part of what brought the old Soviet Union to the table, and what ended up bringing the Berlin Wall, and the Communist Iron Curtain to a close.

President of the United States (POTUS) Trump seems to have a knack for getting at the heart of an issue. Freedom and peace through strength. He believes that his ‘tariff’ skirmish will result in better trade deals for America. Several of his economic principles are already proving themselves.

“As long as we are proud of who we are and what we are fighting for, we will never, ever fail. There is no place like our place,” he said of the U.S.A. “With your help, and with your voice, and with your vote,” the 45th president said his reform version of the GOP party “can keep on winning. We will keep on winning.”

“We are Americans. And our hearts bleed red, white, and blue,” said the “America First” president.

“We are one people. One family, and one glorious nation under God. And together, we will make America wealthy again. We will make America strong again. We will make America safe again. And we will make America great again. Thank you, thank you Minnesota.” The president is hoping some of his political supporters will win congressional races in the state, and perhaps flip a U.S. Senate seat or two.

The president narrowly lost Minnesota in 2016, which is a state that has been deep blue for decades.

Proven, Pragmatic, Pro-Business and Individual Prosperity Principles

MHProNews has and will continue to stand for proven principles, not spin, hype or political posturing.

This writer editorially supported President Trump, and the presidential campaign site carried my full column for months. Those who came late to the dance are welcome, but the point is that we discerned who the best candidate was for our industry and for our nation – Donald J. Trump – and we backed him during the primaries, after the convention, and have supported his policies since.

While the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) paid for two pro-Clinton speakers in the closing days before the 2016 election, while MHProNews and the Kovach family supported Donald J. Trump’s candidacy as the best for the industry, small business and hundreds of millions of Americans. One of those stories ended up on the president’s campaign website, and hundreds of conservative and pro-Trump websites.

Our support for President Trump was and is based upon those principles and sound policies. Those principles work in spite of how someone may feel about this or that presidential tweet, or this or that hyperbolic expression. Proven principles are paying off.

We at MHProNews are pragmatic and practical. We strive to get facts and principles correct, so that professional readers and investors can have a reliable source of independent information.

This is demonstrably the most pro-industry, pro-sustainable growth publication in manufactured housing history. We are also the runaway #1 publications in our niche. Those are bold claims. But third-party data helps proves it. Beyond reader feedback, which of course crosses the spectrum of pro-and-con, traffic or email data tell us that most of our audience respects what we provide. By the way, it was a competitor who asked us to do the report, linked below.

That said, there are monopolies that harm our industry. We believe in principle that those monopolies need to be legally challenged and broken up. That includes the alleged Berkshire Hathaway monopoly over manufactured housing; but it isn’t limited to them. Our position is based upon principles. Other monopolies that need to be addressed are found in the article, linked below. Each one poses a risk to our industry and the nation.

If you are a first time reader, please see Smoking Gun 3once you’ve finished this article for documents and videos that demonstrate just how manufactured housing has been arguably derailed. See how choking off capital debatably harmed thousands of industry businesses, and potentially millions of more manufactured home owners. That in turn costs taxpayers billions.

As we’ve ratcheted up that theme of breaking up the monopolies, the Manufactured Housing Institute’s (MHI) ‘big boy’ backers have demonstrably provided more ads and financial support to the other MH industry trade sources. We’ve had sponsors tell us that they’ve been pressured to back off supporting us.

Thanks to the support of a few, we are still standing. We stand for principles, vs. those who are apparently short-term sellouts. The industry can only achieve its potential by breaking free of the factors that have artificially suppressed our MH Industry’s growth.

Collage by MHProNews.

What was accomplished previously in sustainable shipment levels, can clearly be done again.

Our publisher personally knows each other ‘serious’ non-association trade publisher or blogger active in manufactured housing today. He respects some-to-many of their qualities. We advocate a separating the “wheat from the chaff” approach. But the sad reality is that each of those other MH bloggers and writers has to various degrees debatably ‘sold out’ to the big money interests. Their articles and writing are often – not always – that of a sycophant.

It is President Donald J. Trump and his supporters that made S 2155 possible.

The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) are among those trade groups which have consistently supported tax cutting and/or regulatory reform polices that are good for America, and are good for independent manufactured housing industry businesses.

The president’s rally in Duluth, Minnesota last night hit all of the themes and topics that are hot in the news recently. Several of the major cable networks did not carry the full address. The CBS video above covers the President of the United States (POTUS) Donald J. Trump’s talk.

For those who are:

realists, open minded, and sustainable growth oriented,

for those that don’t already support the president’s plans,

those owe it to themselves to take another look.

The truth and applying the truth will alone set people free.

For those who already agree with the above, you get it. For those who don’t, the growth after just 500 days of Mr. Trump in Oval Office should be evidence.

The opposition uses slanders and slurs, because that’s all that they have.

It should be noted that competitors in publishing in MHVille may or may not agree with the president’s policies. But in practice, if other writers support what MHI’s ‘big boy backers’ want – admit it or not – then they are routinely on the wrong side of the MH Industry’s issues.

While Frank Rolfe has gone silent – allegedly due to a discussion between Berkshire Hathaway company members, ads, and certain benefits – several of the points he made prior to going silent about MHI were spot on. Will Rolfe risk losing his support in favor of speaking out again? Time will tell.

MHI has de facto been working for consolidation. The case for that allegation is laid out in linked articles and reports. You can see a summary in the first Related Report, linked below.

Note that we’ve repeatedly given MHI and Berkshire brands in MHVille an opportunity to refute any of the facts we’ve presented. For about 15 months now, they no longer even try to respond. Isn’t that a de facto admission that what we’ve been publishing is correct?

That may be a difficult pill for long-time MHI members or Berkshire believers to swallow, but it is what it is.

To see a sample of our emailed news update, click here. To sign up for the factory-built home industry’s #1 headline news, click here or the graphic above.

Phase One has been about education. Education is about helping free manufactured housing from the chains which has limited it for far too many years. Education about the realities of modern manufactured homes must be ongoing.

The 45th president clearly has personal knowledge of factory-crafted home building, as well as of conventional housing construction.

It is worth noting that Vice President Mike Pence hails from Indiana. Industry sources tell the Daily Business News, that then-Governor Pence understood manufactured housing (MH), used the proper terminology, and was supportive of the industry.

In Senate testimony, HUD Secretary Ben Carson, MD, has called modern manufactured homes “amazing.” Meanwhile, Secretary Carson labeled the regulatory regime of the Pamela Beck Danner era as “ridiculous.” Dr. Carson did so without mentioning her by name.

Make a habit of using the correct terminology.

Operation Breakthrough

Levittown and that builder named by the president was an example of factory-based home building were included in HUD’s report on Operation Breakthrough, linked below. The linked reports on Operation Breakthrough – along with other linked resources from this article – can be read later, for additional details, and a deeper understanding.

A HUD’s PD&R report linked below are one of the sources that demonstrated via university-level research that modern manufactured homes appreciated side-by-side with conventional housing in urban infill settings.

Enforcing the two laws linked here and above could pave the way to home ownership for millions, which in turn would spur the personal wealth of many, including blacks, Hispanics and all other demographic groups.

As Secretary Carson reminded the nation last year, home owners have an average net worth of $200,000, while renters only have an average net worth of $5,000 dollars.

There are debatably few other items that the Trump Adminstration could do than enforce those two existing laws, which would:

cost the federal government less tax payer money over time,

yield more wealth for millions,

all while creating more good jobs,

and higher domestic economic growth.

Virtually everyone, save perhaps a few monopolistic forces, would benefit from enforcing two laws already on the books regarding manufactured housing.

The Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) has attempted to claim credit for the passage of the MLO rule when S 2155 was signed into law. The Masthead predicted that this dubious MHI claim would occur from the Berkshire Hathaway dominated association, prior to the signing of the bill.

It was the Trump Administration, not MHI, that made the MLO rule passage possible.

Note that then candidate Trump pushed for such a bill, by campaigning for reforms of Dodd-Frank.

By contrast, Warren Buffett backed Hillary Clinton pledged to do what Barack Obama did. Chairman Buffett led Berkshire Hathaway used their manufactured housing mouthpiece, MHI, to posture reforms of Dodd-Frank for years. But that reform of Dodd-Frank was only accomplished under President Trump.

Buffett publicly supported President Barack Obama, who pledged to veto a bill that included a similar provision to S 2155. MHI’s now exited government relations Vice President Jason Boehlert admitted in writing that the passage of MHI’s bill, Preserving Access was unlikely while President Obama was in the White House.

By contrast, the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) said early on in the Trump Administration that the industry could not ask for a better president in the Oval Office that Donald Trump.

Once understood, its an apparently classic case of what President Trump has called “a rigged system.”

Examples of a Corrupt, Rigged System?

The Washington Post made it clear that it was MHARR, not MHI, that worked with the Trump Administration to exit the destructive regulatory steps Pam Danner, JD, caused manufactured housing operations during her tenure at the Office of Manufactured Housing Programs (OMHP).

The Buffett/Berkshire dominated MHI was allegedly posturing reforms of Dodd-Frank and HUD, but in fact supported for president, first Barack Obama and then Secretary Hillary Clinton. That’s Mr. Buffett’s right, but then it is debatably unjust for MHI to claim that they were trying to mitigate regulations.

In fact, regarding the Department of Energy (DOE) plans for manufactured housing under the Obama Administration, MHI was promoting heavier regulations, while MHARR stood alone among MH industry associations in Washington D.C. to stop them.

Marty Lavin, JD, bluntly said on the record that MHI was working for “the big boys” and their interests.

The MHI award-winning Lavin has previously said “pay more attention to what people do than what they say.” In hindsight, isn’t it clear that MHI said they wanted to make certain reforms, but in fact Buffett’s “big boys” – such as Berkshire owned Clayton Homes, 21st Mortgage and Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance (VMF) – were working to maintain or even increase regulatory burdens?

Why?

Because heavy regulations are both a barrier of entry to new businesses, and are also a force that can crush existing business operations. It is part of Buffet’s strategic “Moat” philosophy.

Using the established principles that high taxes, and high regulations harm smaller business, the Buffett tool of MHI was de facto aiding in the consolidation of manufactured housing companies. These are points President Trump has often raised in a general way in his speeches.

Sources on- and off-the-record have leveled charges that MHI was working against the interests of smaller companies, while Berkshire Hathaway owned brands and some others in manufactured housing were “consolidating” – or killing off – smaller independents for years. MHI’s own data reflects the trend.

While MHARR has raised such issues in their own fashion, only MHProNews among the industry’s trade media has spotlighted these concerns. Long-time readers will recall that MHProNews editorially supported and endorsed President Trump during the 2016 campaign. That support drew the attention of the presidential campaign, which for months had one of this writer’s articles on the Donald J. Trump campaign website.

While the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) paid for two pro-Clinton speakers in the closing days before the 2016 election, the Kovach family and MHProNews supported Donald J. Trump’s candidacy as the best for the industry, small business, and hundreds of millions of Americans. One of those stories ended up on the president’s campaign website, and hundreds of conservative and pro-Trump websites.

While industry’s bloggers and MHProNews competitors were often shilling or cheering MHI and Berkshire Hathaway owned brands, MHProNews and those who support this platform stood alone in the industry’s media to warn the industry’s members against the complex, and tortured ways MHI and Berkshire Hathaway were killing off and/or “consolidating” companies at bargain prices.

The Trump Administration is doing their part. They are striving to undo the damage of years of crony capitalism in Washington, D.C., step-by-step.

If Brian Montgomery and Secretary Carson will avoid the trap of appointing a MHI candidate to be the non-career Administrator of OMHP at HUD, it could be another next step forward for millions of Americans.

Based upon reports from industry sources, MHProNews has supported Vic DeRose to replace Danner. DeRose could be someone that holds to the regulatory philosophy of the president, to administer the manufactured housing program in a way that could benefit industry and consumers alike. “We Provide, You Decide.” (C) ## (News, analysis, and commentary.)

(Third party images, and content, are provided under fair use guidelines.)

“The president is committed to getting tax relief for middle-class Americans passed and is willing to work with Democrats and Republicans to do it,” White House officials said, per Fox News.

Small businesses and entrepreneurs around the United States are waiting to get more specifics on the potential tax reform that President Trump is pushing for legislature to pass.

Since early on in his campaign President Trump has been calling on Congress to pass a bill that would provide significant tax breaks for small businesses.

Groups like the National Federation of Independent Businesses believe that tax reform will significantly improve their chances at success.

Just last week the Daily Business News reported on the presidents spotlighting Senator Heitkamp in North Dakota where he stopped to give a speech on his hope for tax reform.

“Ideally, he’d like to get it down to 15 percent. I don’t know if we’ll be able to achieve that given the budget issues, but we’re going to get this down to a very competitive level,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told a conference in New York hosted by CNBC.

In order to pass a tax reform bill the Senate will need at least some Democrats to be on board. As it stands now, a group of 43 Senate Democrats and two independents have signed a letter laying out their “demands” to see bipartisan tax reform, per Reuters.

There is question as to whether or not Trumps goal of 15 percent is realistic considering the spending cuts that would have to go along with such tax breaks.

“Thepresident is prepared to push for as low of a rate as we can get. We’re going to continue to push for that and work for Congress to make sure we get the best deal possible,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.

In what is likely an attempt to gain support from the Democrats, Trump has recently agreed to raise the debt ceiling and fund the government through December 8, 2017. Now, he has invited at least three Democrats to a dinner, likely to push for support for the upcoming tax reform bill.

Those invited to dinner with President Trump include Joe Donnelly, Heidi Heitkamp, and Joe Manchin. Each of those Democrats are in states that President Trump won by a wide margin.

Featured image credit, WUWM.

“No more platitudes. Let’s see some meat on the bone,” Senator John Kennedy said. “You don’t always get what you want. I think there’s a song that says that. But you need to get what you need and that’s where we are. And I‘m tired of screwing around. … The American people are tired of screwing around.” ## (News, analysis.)

(Image credits are as shown above, and when provided by third parties, are shared under fair use guidelines.)

Submitted by Julia Granowicz to the Daily Business News for MHProNews.

In a New York Times op-ed piece, billionaire investor Warren Buffett says its ridiculous to think higher capital gains taxes will prevent the super wealthy from investing their money. He notes in the 1950s when the capital gains rate rose from 25 to 27.5 percent no one complained of not being able to find investment opportunities. He contends complaints from the super wealthy about paying taxes is especially absurd since the Forbes 400 wealthiest Americans made $1.7 trillion this year compared to $300 billion 20 years ago. Noting the 400 highest incomes paid a tax rate of 26.4 percent in 1992, he says that percentage fell to 19.4 percent in 2009, and nearly 25 percent of them paid less than 15 percent. A few paid nothing. In addition to eliminating the Bush-era tax cuts on the wealthy, and raising the cut-off for the minimum tax from the $250,000 that President Obama proposes to $500,000, Buffett suggests a 30 percent tax on incomes from $1 to $10 million, and 35 percent on anything above that. He states the government needs to achieve a better balance in its revenues and expenses, and needs more tax reform. As MHProNews has learned, the bottom line is the super rich will continue to invest regardless of higher taxes. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway owns Clayton Homes, the largest producer of manufactured housing in North America.

ABC News provided coverage as workers watched the State of the Union from Keystone RV in Elkhart, Indiana.

Analysts are calling Obama’s State of the Union “business focused,” including proposals to aid small business and keep America competitive. The president proposed taking $30 billion repaid by Wall Street banks and using it to provide credit to community banks and small businesses. The president also proposed a new small business tax credit, eliminating capital gains taxes on small business investment and providing a tax incentive for businesses to invest in new plants and equipment. The full text of President Obama’s speech is available here.